Pretend store play and teaching kids about money
Pretend store play, teaching kids to count money, and picking games that aren’t trying to sell your child anything. I write about what I’ve tested myself while building KidRoles.
How to teach kids to count money
How to teach kids to count money: five stages from coin values to change, what to expect from pre-K to grade 3, and fun ways to practice at home and in class.
Ad-free games for kids — how to check before you hand the tablet over
How to tell in a few minutes whether a kids’ game really has no ads or in-app purchases. Concrete steps, the traps in “free” apps, and a checklist you can run through.
Teaching kids about money — where to start
Teaching kids about money without lectures: what a child can actually grasp at ages 5 to 8, which habits to build at home, and the one condition an allowance has to meet to teach anything.
Your child’s first solo shopping trip
A child’s first solo purchase step by step: when they’re ready, how much cash to hand over, what to rehearse, where you should stand, and what not to do for them.
Grocery store dramatic play — setting up the center
How to set up a grocery store dramatic play center in a preschool or kindergarten classroom: props worth having, the print to put on the walls, how to run it with a group, and when to rotate it out.
Teaching kids to make change
How to teach kids to make change: why counting up beats subtraction, the coin trap that confuses every seven-year-old, and six stages from recognizing coins to running a whole sale.
Offline games for kids — what actually works in the car and on a plane
Games for kids with no internet: how to check whether an app truly runs offline, what to prepare before a trip, and why “downloaded” doesn’t mean “will work”.
Playing store with kids — 7 ideas that grow with them
Playing store with kids aged 3 to 9: seven versions that scale with your child. What to set out, how to raise the difficulty, and the three habits that end the game early.
Grocery store math — exercises you do at the shelf
Math for kids aged 6 to 8 in a real grocery store: estimating, comparing prices, unit price and weight. Eight exercises you do at the shelf, with no worksheet.